Cancer patients draw strength from Praxair Center art classes

DANBURY  The last thing Billie Bourdeau remembers drawing before she met Rocco Colucci was a picture of Abraham Lincoln that she sketched in seventh grade.

Associated Press

Published
12:00 am EST, Sunday, November 16, 2003

"Now I cant believe what Im able to do," said Bourdeau, 60, of Danbury. "I find it very soothing and inspirational."

Bourdeau is one of many cancer patients who have taken part in an art program that Colucci, 71, offers for patients in the Praxair Cancer Center at Danbury Hospital.

Both Bourdeau and Colucci are cancer survivors. Both have found art a comfort and a source of strength in times of stress.

"There was a time when I had no confidence," Bourdeau said. "Id just sit there and talk, but now I look forward to his weekly visits."

Colucci, an artist and illustrator who was born in the Bronx, has lived in Danbury with his wife, Gloria, for the past 17 years. Although diagnosed with inoperable prostate cancer 11 years ago, Colucci had no chemotherapy or radiation treatment until last year, when he started experiencing severe pains.

"It was when I began having chemotherapy that I decided to start teaching art classes to other patients," Colucci said. "Id always wanted to do this, but after having started my own treatments, I felt I had the need to share my own experiences with them. For me, art has proved very therapeutic."

Colucci runs the three-hour weekly classes at the Praxair Center every Monday after undergoing his own chemotherapy treatment. Under his watchful eye, patients gather to discuss art and produce their own works, such as watercolors and pencil drawings.

"What Im really teaching is positive thinking," Colucci said. "I want to use art as a means to help people accomplish things they once felt were unattainable within themselves.

"I consider it to be part of the grand scheme of achieving wellness," he said.

Bourdeau believes the art program is achieving that goal for her. Married with three grown children, she was diagnosed in 1993 with metastatic carcinoid cancer. She stopped chemotherapy treatments three years ago and now controls the symptoms of the disease with drugs.

"Hes a man of great wisdom and hes been a mentor to many, many cancer patients over the years," Bourdeau said. "He fills us with such hope just by being himself."

Another class member and cancer survivor, Nancy Thurmond, 60, said Coluccis program has certainly been a positive element in her life.

Thurmond, now single with two grown daughters, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1991. Since surgery, chemotherapy and the discovery that the cancer had spread to other parts of her body, Thurmond has fought back with a "massive" daily regimen of enzymes and supplements.

In May this year, tests showed Thurmonds cancer was no longer active. The former teacher at Huckleberry School in Brookfield said Coluccis classes have helped her learn how to "create a new life."

"We share part of ourselves with the canvas as a way of reliving life," Thurmond said. "Ive been keeping a journal of all my experiences and one day intend to write a book, which I hope will be an inspiration to others."

Along with their art studies, patients take part in a poetry program three or four times a month.

Laurie Arnold, an oncology nurse at the Praxair center who runs the program, describes it as "a tool for healing and self development."